A three-judge appeals panel heard arguments in the case of Matthew R. Limon, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for engaging in homosexual sex with a minor. Limon was 18 years old when he was convicted in 2000 of having oral sex with a 14-year-old boy at a private group home for people with developmental disabilities in Paola.

Under state law, if Limon had engaged in sex with an underage girl, he would have faced a maximum sentence of one year and three months in prison.

“I’m just trying to come up with a reason, other than you don’t like homosexuals,” Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Pierron told Deputy Atty. Gen. Jared Maag, who was representing the state.

But Maag said the state Legislature had broad authority to approve of such disparities in sentencing in order to promote “traditional sexual roles.”

The state argued the reasons for different punishments of similar sex acts was to promote marriage, encourage procreation and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Maag does not explain how sentencing a teen-ager to spend most of his life in prison promotes marriage, procreation, or sexual health.

Mike Airhart was the founding editor of Ex-Gay Watch, until he left in 2007. He has returned as a contributing writer. He has written periodically for Truth Wins Out, and volunteered for Men Can Stop Rape, Whitman-Walker Clinic, WaterFire Providence, and the Providence Equality Action Committee. His background includes expertise in journalism, business news, content syndication, human rights, sexual harassment issues, and liberation theology.